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MOTUC Q&A's From Around the Net (3/15/2013)

Kastor’s Korner: At Toy Fair, it was said that the Four Horsemen had a team crank out the castle in less than two weeks. I am not trying to spin anything, but as a buyer, seeing as how I spend $500 on two castles sight unseen and taking a leap of faith in a company that has given us what can be labeled questionable QC, I would much prefer not to hear that the castle was a “rush job”. Given the outcry on the height, drawbridge, and Wind Raider stand, etc, couldn’t have the castle and its unique situation been a more collaborative effort between the maker and the buyers? I prefer the castle being done RIGHT before it being done quickly.
Mattel: The Horsemen did not change the height of the Castle nor did the sculpting time have anything to do with how big or small it was. Mattel design and engineering determined the specs based on ever changing costs factors and provided them to the Horsemen based on the cost of the Castle at a retail price of 250.00. If in any way you are unhappy with the product (which 100% will continue to evolve and change ) you may cancel anytime through Aug 30th. Ideally a close to final product will be shown at SDCC.

Kastor’s Korner: Instead of saving tooling dollars because we need 12 monthly $25 SKUs of MOTUC characters with shared tooling that might not be well-received (like Trap Jaw’s legs used ad nauseum for New Adventures characters), why can’t we get, say, 6 $25 MOTUC characters with shared tooling (example: Ninjor) and say, 6 $30 figures that need all-new tooling (example: Extendar, Blast-Attak)? That 100% tooled Mantenna we saw is worth paying $30 and I would hate to see Mantenna’s legs on Modulok just for the sake of “budget”. I would gladly pay more if the unique tooling was there.

Mattel: Keep the price flat across all 12 figures is something we need to do right now. A cool suggestion but not something we can activate on.

Kastor’s Korner: Could Design change Castaspella’s orange color to shiny gold? On the Filmation series, her collar and belt matches Bow’s armor and She-Ra’s tiara, so it would translate to those pieces being gold, just like the vintage toy. If design could make the orange on her belt, color, and spell wheel to gold instead, I would be very happy. While it’s personal preference, it’s also accurate to the source material
Mattel: At this time we won’t be able to make this change. The figure is too far along in production.

Kastor’s Korner: Regarding the revealed package protectors, wouldn’t fans would then have to dump their white boxes, which are in fact easier to store their collection. I genuinely like the idea of them, but then what about the protectors for beasts, giants, and irregular packaging like the Con Exclusives?
Mattel: The protectors just offer yet another option for display. No plans for protectors for larger items yet, we need to see how these do first.

Kastor’s Korner: Flying and floating characters NEED flight stands. It’s essential for Shokoti’s darkling, as well as characters like Kowl, Imp, Dre-Elle, and Uncle Montork when they are produced. If it can’t be budgeted, would Design be able to at least add the hole or port to the Darkling so we have the option to use Orko’s and the Doomseeker’s flight stand instead, until flight stands are added to a future weapons pack?

Mattel: I’ll pass this suggestion along, but usually these things have to be done at the sculpt stage with the Horsemen. By the time we get the sculpts, these choices have already been made.

Q: Many collectors were disappointed to see such low head height clearances in the Castle – particularly at the main doorway and ground floor at the back. Is anything going to be done to improve this issue, such as sinking down the jawbridge into the rocks or dropping down the entire ground floor?

A: Yes, we are actively working to see if we can sink the Jaw Bridge down a bit. Once we have an update we will let fans know!

Q: Will the final Castle feature unique-sculpted interior wall textures (i.e. NOT just the reverse of the exterior)?

A: No. It will be the reverse of the exterior.

Q: You recently stated that sales of the Filmation subscription are “significantly down.” Could you give us a 4th reveal? Perhaps similar in the way that Poison Ivy was mentioned for DC Infinite Earths?

What exactly happens to the Snake Men after their defeat caused by the Spell of Separation during the Second Ultimete Battleground?Do they die, do they disintegrate, do they return to the vortex?And what implications does this have over the peaceful species with snake DNA?

Like the Snake Men descendants (Reptons in Filmation), species which Kobra Khan belongs to. The spell separated their DNA and disintegrated them as well as their descendants.

When Hordak uses the Spell of Separation in the P.o.G. minicomic, is not the moment when the two hemispheres are created, back then at that time the spell is used to defeat the Snake Men and then is used later again, is that the way the Dark Hemisphere was created?

From Toy Guru: "To quote Prof. Farnsworth: "it can do other things!". The Spell was originally used by Hordak to attempt to break apart Eternia and steal the Star Seed. The same spell was later used by Orko to separate the Snake Men's DNA. The same magic to separate can do different things. It is not a one use spell!"To quota Skeletor: “Such are the bizarre workings of magic!”

This question is about the little strange origin of Teela, with the current bio is like Teela's no longer Teela'Na's daughter, because she's a clone, not her child and it's a little bit weird to think of Teela'Na as the mother of a clone.Or if she's a magical clone is there any possibility that Teela'Na gave birth to Teela or due to an egg as seen in the Filmation series?

We tend to look a Filmation as a more child friendly version of He-Man's tales, maybe as Songster would tell to kids in the royal court. Some elements that are kid friendly are age'd up for the bios cannon.

Is there any particular reason why King He-Man's figure is called like that and not "King Adam"?

Yes, Keep reading the bios.

The other half of the Power Sword that comes with Skeletor's figure, is it just a common sword? Or it is really the other half of the Power Sword?

This is a tricky one as the original reason the swords split was dropped from storytelling pretty early on but remained with the toys throughout the vintage line. Some fans like "everything" explained away in the bios and justified, other are content with accessories as homages to the vintage line.

For the sake of the bios cannon, this could either be a separate sword from the Sword of He, or perhaps it is the Sword of He during one adventure where Skeletor captured it like in the early mini comics and it color changed for its owner as it always does. In Skeletor's hands it would change to purple.

1. You told us that by the end of 2015 you are now planning to have out every vintage figure from MotU and Pop as well as almost all NA figures except some Galactic Protectors. But no matter how fans calculate, considering multipacks and quarterly items as well as con exclusives- not everyone will fit into these to years even if you do at least 2 figures each month. Do you have any additional plans (without telling us the new roadmap, just if you have something in mind)?

We may also miss out on some of the more obscure Space Mutants as well as some POP and NA variants, but yes, the plan is to get to all the major vintage figures and animated characters by the end of 2015.

2. If you'd continue with the filmation subline in 2014- would it get a similar tooling budget as the main line (a whole year of figures to warrant one or two fully tooled figures)?

Possible but it is way to early to comment on 2014 at this point.

3. You told us that you will focus on new characters in 2014 and 2015 rather than doing variants of existing characters. But what about NA Skeletor? Now that NA He-Man is coming this has become the most important variant as it is his nemesis.

Major variants of characters like these two would be ones we want to keep in focus for the near future. Variants we are less likely to hit by 2015 are characters like Shower Power Catra and Too Tall Hoove (at least before 2015!)

4. Scott: Which one is your favorite Fighting Foe Man and why?

From Toy Guru: "I personally love Dittstroyer the Roton Driver. I love the cape and hood and that the staff fits into his back!"

5. The preorder for Castle Grayskull worked fine. Now there are some people constantly screaming for some rereleases. Could you imagine doing a preorder for a second run of Teela and Fisto figures? If you don't hit the minimum- leave it, no risk for Mattel!

Highly unlikely. While there is some very loud demand from fans online, we have found from over 2 years of sales data that reissue just don't sell at the min quota we need to go back into production.

1. 2013 started off as a relatively cheap year for MOTUC fans, with the sub decreasing in it’s overall figure number. However shortly after Castel Grayskull was added and now the Filmation sub. Is overloading the fan’s wallets a concern for Mattel? It seems like this would likely account for some dropoff with subscriptions.

We are conscious of this, but also keep in mind that the Castle is a one time thing. We don’t expect to repeat it every year. Without the Castle, 2012 and 2013 are about the same with the Filmation series taking the spot of the 30th anniversary skus.

Illumina is a huge fan favorite – though she did not win the fan choice vote, is there a chance Mattel will go with ‘majority fan opinion’ and ‘cast’ Illumina as the mother of Skeletor in the bios? (Both are indeed Gar)..
Definitely a character that is on the possible list for consideration in 2016 and beyond. But not a character we want to dedicate a slot to until after the vintage line and key animated figures are done due to rising costs.

A lot of us love the all inclusive nature of the MOTUC bios – is there any chance the main writer of the bios (Scott Neitlich) would be allowed to do/would consider doing a novelization of part(s) of the grand-narrative in the bios? A MOTU novel would be amazing.

From Toyguru:“I would love to do that one day. For now, you’ll need to enjoy the bios and the mini comics which also fill in a lot of bios lore!”

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The sites listed below are the sites who want to participate in the Q&A round-up in these threads and on the He-Man.org homepage news entry.
Be sure to check out their sites! There's a lot there to see in addition to the Q&As.

All other sites haven't gotten back to us yet about participating, or have asked not to be included which we completely understand and respect.
So, please do not post the actual questions and answers from any site not listed above.
But you are welcome to post a direct link to their Q&A, and discuss the info here in this thread.

I really hope the darkling will have a hole in it for a flight stand. Seems obvious.

We need to let our new friends at Super 7 know that many of us are ALL IN COLLECTORS. We don't want products that are impossible for the average collector to have access to! If there is a He-man product, I want to buy it. Please no chases or con-only exclusives.

Don't like the idea of a whole race being exterminated by a spell. If I recall correctly, the spell was done by Orko...

So non-violent snake people are killed along Hisss's warriors? And no one among He-Man's ranks feels bad about it? Isn't He-Man supposed to be a kind of protector of all Eternian peoples and races?

I see Hisss as a tyrant followed by a crew of bloodthirsty warriors but I don't think that all Snake-Men are evil. It's too easy in terms of story writing... It would have been more interesting to have a Snake-men fifth colon helping He-man overthrow Hisss...

Mattel: The Horsemen did not change the height of the Castle nor did the sculpting time have anything to do with how big or small it was. Mattel design and engineering determined the specs based on ever changing costs factors and provided them to the Horsemen based on the cost of the Castle at a retail price of 250.00. IF IN ANY WAY YOU ARE UNHAPPY WITH THE PRODUCT (WHICH 100% WILL CONTINUE TO EVOLVE AND CHANGE ) YOU MAY CANCEL ANYTIME THROUGH AUG 30TH. IDEALLY a CLOSE to final product will be shown at SDCC.

Ha ! Seems to me that Mattel is now encouraging customers to cancel their Castle Grayskull preorder(s) ! Awesome way of doing business, really…

Also, the "IDEALLY" part of the answer is not really reassuring, because it means that we might not even get to see a "CLOSE to final product" (which is a very different concept compared to a final product) at SDCC. I personally look at this whole CG adventure as a complete failure.

Kastor’s Korner: Regarding the revealed package protectors, wouldn’t fans would then have to dump their white boxes, which are in fact easier to store their collection. I genuinely like the idea of them, but then what about the protectors for beasts, giants, and irregular packaging like the Con Exclusives?

Mattel: The protectors just offer yet another option for display. No plans for protectors for larger items yet, we need to see how these do first.

In other words, if people who keep their figures MOC (and they're just a fraction of the MOTUC collecting community) planned to have a uniform way of displaying their collection, they can forget altogether about it ! Because they could end up with beasts and larger items that won't have a protective clamshell/protector...

Kastor’s Korner: Instead of saving tooling dollars because we need 12 monthly $25 SKUs of MOTUC characters with shared tooling that might not be well-received (like Trap Jaw’s legs used ad nauseum for New Adventures characters), why can’t we get, say, 6 $25 MOTUC characters with shared tooling (example: Ninjor) and say, 6 $30 figures that need all-new tooling (example: Extendar, Blast-Attak)? That 100% tooled Mantenna we saw is worth paying $30 and I would hate to see Mantenna’s legs on Modulok just for the sake of “budget”. I would gladly pay more if the unique tooling was there.

To me, it is this kind of question and fan reaction that also drives the line down. Keep giving Mattel bad ideas like this one, and you're certain to see a new rise in figures costs ! Not the wisest thing to do, IMO... On the other hand, I understand the will to get figures that are done the right way. But with MOTUC figures being already overpriced, I don't think it's a brilliant idea to request more expensive figures... Plus, we know with this line that rising costs don't really mean rising quality control or more details, or more ambitious projects.

Q: Will the final Castle feature unique-sculpted interior wall textures (i.e. NOT just the reverse of the exterior)?

A: No. It will be the reverse of the exterior.

Another epic fail, but it will probably make the castle "pop" more...

Kastor’s Korner: Could Design change Castaspella’s orange color to shiny gold? On the Filmation series, her collar and belt matches Bow’s armor and She-Ra’s tiara, so it would translate to those pieces being gold, just like the vintage toy. If design could make the orange on her belt, color, and spell wheel to gold instead, I would be very happy. While it’s personal preference, it’s also accurate to the source material

Mattel: At this time we won’t be able to make this change. The figure is too far along in production.

Mattel has constantly dragged their feet or refused altogether to make changes to revealed figures. This is yet another evidence of that sad fact. Plus, you didn't really think they would bring changes to a FEMALE figure, did you !?

Even though she was a clone, The Sorceress and MAA acted as if they were her real parents. Origins didn't mean anything.

Originally Posted by jdscissorhands

Don't like the idea of a whole race being exterminated by a spell. If I recall correctly, the spell was done by Orko...

So non-violent snake people are killed along Hisss's warriors? And no one among He-Man's ranks feels bad about it? Isn't He-Man supposed to be a kind of protector of all Eternian peoples and races?

I see Hisss as a tyrant followed by a crew of bloodthirsty warriors but I don't think that all Snake-Men are evil. It's too easy in terms of story writing... It would have been more interesting to have a Snake-men fifth colon helping He-man overthrow Hisss...

They've said that the Filmation version of He-Man is the childish version of what really happened. The real version is darker... Here, He-Man probably didn't know that the spell would kill the Reptons and Mekaneck as well. Heck, everyone probably thought that the spell would free Mekaneck!

They've said that the Filmation version of He-Man is the childish version of what really happened. The real version is darker... Here, He-Man probably didn't know that the spell would kill the Reptons and Mekaneck as well. Heck, everyone probably thought that the spell would free Mekaneck!

I'm ok with a darker MOTU in the Classics mythos and I can understand that we're not sure whether there are "good" Snakemen in Classics. Still, I find this way of winning the war against the Snake Men too easy. A magic spell helped the good guys win over the bad guys. A bit simplistic for a more adult orientted MOTU, don't you think?

I'm ok with a darker MOTU in the Classics mythos and I can understand that we're not sure whether there are "good" Snakemen in Classics. Still, I find this way of winning the war against the Snake Men too easy. A magic spell helped the good guys win over the bad guys. A bit simplistic for a more adult orientted MOTU, don't you think?

Yeah. I was hoping that the Spell of Separation would help free those enslaved by the Snake Men (like MAA), not wipe out the Snake Men.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: I really wish we could have more input on characters, playsets, accessories etc. before certain decisions are made.

While I don't think that fans should be able to have a say about every little detail, I do agree that Mattel should have communicated with the fanbase and explored all the options (raising the price, cutting all accessories, ...) before shrinking Castle Grayskull. Around the pre-order time TG proclaimed high and low that they couldn't pull it off without us, but after the minimum was met we didn't heard squat about it anymore, until we got to see the prototype and it was too late to change anything anymore.

"A knight is sworn to valor. His heart knows only virtue. His blade defends the helpless. His word speaks only truth. His wrath undoes the wicked."

I didn't know that, too. When and where was this stated? Is the sub greenlit anyway or is it in danger of getting cancelled like the 2013 sub was last summer?

One of the Q/A above:

Q: You recently stated that sales of the Filmation subscription are significantly down. Could you give us a 4th reveal? Perhaps similar in the way that Poison Ivy was mentioned for DC Infinite Earths?

A: Sorry, our lips are sealed for now.

I do not know where it was originally stated that Filmation subs are down. And was it stated before or after the deadline? Since they are asking for another reveal in the question it looks like this was before the deadline so maybe the majority of fans ordered the last day again ... or maybe the sales are really down.

I think 2014 will probably happen in some form. Whether it is as robust as this year who knows? Scott did say the Filmation sub is going forward despite the lower sales. However, he indicated there may not be a future sub if sales remain low. Has anyone considered the possibility that Mattel may make all figures in the 2014 sub exclusive? Meaning there will be no day-of sales. I think that might be a reality we may have to face to keep the line going forward.

I'm not surprised at the Filmation sub being down in numbers. While I know the characters revealed have their fans, I personally couldn't remember them from their single appearances in the show. While I watched the cartoon(s) loads as a kid it's very rare that I've sat and watched an episode since. I think it might have been wiser to include at least one multiple-appearance heavy hitter in there. If they'd shown Madame Razz, for example, I think numbers would have been much higher.

The other issue, for me, is that the cost of Grayskull looms over the end of the year and having that plus suddenly these extra (mostly unknown, to me) characters is off-putting financially.

It's very hard to extrapolate the meaning when he states it is "doing very well but is significantly down". It's almost contradictory. Obviously not something to worry about since the sub did go through. I imagine the main sub, which will have much more well known characters, should do fine based on the statement of how the Filmation sub was doing at the time he posted that response.

I think 2014 will probably happen in some form. Whether it is as robust as this year who knows? Scott did say the Filmation sub is going forward despite the lower sales. However, he indicated there may not be a future sub if sales remain low. Has anyone considered the possibility that Mattel may make all figures in the 2014 sub exclusive? Meaning there will be no day-of sales. I think that might be a reality we may have to face to keep the line going forward.

I've had these thoughts as well, especially after what we saw with Fang Man this month. I would be somewhat shocked if Mattel did anything but "sub only" for next year, based on how things have shifted as of late and how the 2013 sub was in jeopardy. I'm in favor of whatever option gives us the best chance for more figures over the course of the next few years!!! This line NEEDS to continue for at least 2 more years!!!!!!